Gonna look at an '06 with 193K, any tips?

[rlu_tech]

Just wanna get any last minute pointers before I go look at an '06 F-250 regular cab/long bed 4x4 auto. w/193,000 miles. I've been told it was a "one owner" truck. It's at a used car dealer and seems to be stock, in good condition by the pics and the price is resonable. I know of the obvious head gasket, EGR, and oil cooler problems, but any other tips on what to check out on an 6.0 of this year? Were the 2006 model year trucks better than earlier model trucks? This will only be a daily driver and would only get a straight pipe exhaust and maybe some mild tuning.

[TheFordman87]

See if you can pull the oasis report for the truck. Check around the degas bottle to see for any puking if you don't own one see if you can borrow someone's scan gauge to check ect and ect shouldn't be more than 15 degrees apart. Check for moisture in the tail pipe when you first start it up make sure it doesn't blow out white smoke too.

[05 6.0]

check if there is any moisture around the turbo. If there is its probably leaking coolant from the egr which will blow the head gaskets

[still runs]

ok theres a good bit to check out so im gonna try and hit every thing that i can
1 look to see if it has a egr delete
2 look to see if it has studs or bolts you can do that by looking up iin the passenger side wheel well. look up above the header towards the front.
3 if you can get ahold of a scangauge or some sort of monitoring source and plug that in on your test drive check your deltas
4 look at all your fluids make sure they are good and not dirty trans mostly
5 during your drive feel for vibrations could be bad ball joints, bearings tierods etc.
6 look for any leaks and when you pop the hood look up atthe hood for any sprays look again after your test drive.
7 look all around your degass bottle for any white residue and down on the leaf springs on the driver side they could have cleaned it up under the hood but doubt they would on the leaf springs.
8 look at your turbo boots and cac boots
9 dive it like you own it work the turbo all the gears get it up to temp dont do any wot but check for shift flare and slipping
thats about it but theres more you can do thats the must dos that i can think of at the moment

[rlu_tech]

So if it has factory head bolts w/193k, its a truck to stay away from?

[still runs]

no not really there are trucks out there that have that amount of miles and more on them with stock bolts it all depends on how it was taken care of. but on the other side knowing what i have learned since buying mine. i would be leary of it or try and talk the dealer into again a better price so you can compesate for a good head job. if they know anything about these trucks they would be understanding. another thing you can do is check the truck for exhaust gasses leaking into the coolant system yourslf if they let you??

[rlu_tech]

I am also considering a similarily spec'd '03 6.0 w/103,000 miles. Any engine or trans differences between an '03 and '06?

[still runs]

yes and no its just small diffrences but small enough to be a pain in the a ss id go with the 03 to be honest with ya

[rlu_tech]

Well I test drove the '03 model today. It was a very nice running and driving 6.0. Started well (cold and hot), had good power, no smoke, engine coolant wasnt low, overall pretty nice. It did have factory head bolts not studs. The only concern I had was it looked like the seam between the block and bedplate was leaking oil quite a bit on the drivers side. The salesman said they'd look into it Monday and decide if it's an issue they'd fix or disclose and adjust the price.

[sinner6.0L]

oil on the driver side could very well be the cam sensor leaking. It's a pretty common leak spot